Week 4: Structures and Institutions

The readings for this spoke to me on a lot of different levels! In Capitalism in America, it talked about the different things that often set off Americans, all which lead back to fiscal matters being tied into fairness. In the reading, it mentioned how unsentimental people get when local businesses get swept aside but those same people are willing to be open to innovation. I am still trying to understand how many Americans are business-minded but are not willing to help those businesses that are struggling to keep up with the consumer market. Individualization was talked about in Privatization of Hope, and with this ideology it manages to affect people from lower classes as it weakens the capacity to solve problems especially those who come from a prevailing system. A revolution happens once too many people are angered and bothered by a flaw in the system, and I believe that each day we are getting closer to having a social revolution take place by those who are unemployed and struggling economically. Even though it was mentioned in the reading I have been seeing the progression become stronger and stronger, and eventually the day will come where those people overthrow and punish the wealthy and privileged ones that placed the people in that position. In America, it is apparent that having a sense of individualism usually means that you have a strong sense of self-reliance based on America’s deep rooted history of immigrants. Coming from a family of immigrants, I realize that our voices are hardly heard; we are managed to be pushed back along with the other minorities. Aronson made the point that even our citizenship hardly makes a difference when it comes down to participation. Lower class people can be the ones to vote the most, and it “rarely offer[s] genuine alternatives to prevailing systems”; as minorities we stand on the side lines assuming that things for us and for those from lower classes will become better and fixed by voting but as history shows it is apparent that it will not happen. In chapter two of Privilege, Power, and Difference, Johnson did some calling out. I admire his ways of acknowledging his privilege and speaking about the problems that derive from it; privilege will always be at one’s expense since it is in relation to others. As much as minorities fight back and speak out, changes are much more difficult to happen without the help of those who are in power, A.K.A. white, middle class, college educated men. If they do not address the problems and trouble occurring, then almost nothing can be done about it, and that is the hard truth.

Learning more about education in less privileged areas makes me want to help more! In both the video, Dropout Nation, and the article, Can Schools be Fixed, they addressed the struggles students go through in high school and how the government can drastically hurt the education of students through underfunding and budget-cuts. The number of homeless children has doubled within the last few years, and it affects so much! Thanks to the smart act of No Child Left Behind, thousands of schools got shut down and negatively affected through coercion; if schools did not meet the expectations set up by the state, then funding would be cut and schools would even shut down. On top of all of that the government would not help fund schools in order to better them for the students; it’s all a way to filter out those from lower classes, and I’m glad it is no longer in play. 

History of Privilege

First off, the video I loved; it put a lot of sensitive subjects (for some) into perspective, and even for me, a person of color, who was taught to approach such subjects a certain way, realized how messed up and direct the settlers and White Amerikkka were to the minority population. In school, I was taught that Christopher Columbus was a savior for the Americas and without him there would be no United States of America. I was taught that white men accomplished all the greatest successes throughout history with virtually no help. I was taught that racism does not continue to exist in society; that it only happened in history and now it should all be forgotten. Little did I know that much of history was hidden under the wraps.  

In White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knacksap, by Peggy McIntosh, she heavily mentions the differences that set her apart from the minorities, specifically focusing on her differences with Black people, all the while comparing it to male privilege as well. It gave me insight from another perspective I would not have thought about, but probably because white women had not faced the oppositions Black people have before, although she did make the point of how race and sex are key factors to giving the system an advantage (McIntosh, 1989); arguably, she CAN compare to a certain extent. McIntosh noted that her skin color “was an asset for any move [she] was educated to want to make” and it is such a true statement. The fairer the skin, the greater chance one has at life. My mom came to the US when she was fourteen, and my dad arrived when he was nineteen; they each had SOME type of advantage that still managed to hold them back making them work twice as hard versus their white counterpart. My mom is a somewhat fair skinned immigrant with a heavy accent who, at the time, was undocumented; my dad is a brown immigrant with a Spanish accent noted in his English who simply was in the country because of a visa. They lived in a small, lightly-populated city in Arkansas, and they did not have any background education useful for the workforce. They knew of many white families that were able to advance in their life with ease while they were over here being constantly declined for loans, treated unfairly in work, and continuously discriminated against in public. Even though they had the two slight advantages – my mom being slightly fair skinned and my dad being a man – it still was not enough.

I remember when the Black Lives Matter movement started, and I began following the hashtag on Twitter until I became informed enough to be am ally. Once news about Ferguson hit mainstream media – months after it really began – many false stories surfaced that were quickly proved wrong.  I really liked how the editors incorporated the survivors of Katrina into the movement. Although it was a natural disaster that happened years ago, it is something that affected thousands of people that to THIS DAY it continues to impact them; those in power turn a blind eye to the survivors without even thinking twice. 

Week 2: Socialization

The “Love Has No Labels” video was honestly adorable! I loved the message it sent out about not discriminating and just letting people be. In chapter six, “The Cycle of Socialization”, it begins with talking about the different ways society categorizes and separates individuals in society based on characteristics, both physical and non-physical, such as skin color, ethnicity, religion, class, gender, and so on. Bobbie Harro makes the obvious point that everyone SHOULD “appreciate differences and treat each other with respect” and although many people jump to that conclusion, they do not realize that they must put in the work too to erase oppression (Harro, 2013). Throughout our lives, we will inevitably fall into the stereotypes society, and especially those in power, groups us in even if we do nothing to feed into the actual stereotype. Eventually “our discomfort becomes more powerful than our fear of insecurity…compel[ing us] to take some action”, which I noticed has been happening lately with movements all across the country. Only through educating yourself can you reach that new level of awareness.

In the video, “Park Avenue”, they talked about the troubles of college for those coming from a lower-class background. For example, among the people that reside in a low-income area, such as the Bronx, the unemployment rate sits at 19%. Those who come from a higher class often think that the reason for high unemployment rates is because people choose not to work when in reality that is not the case at all. Since 1980, college tuition has gone up 500% (Gibney, 2012). Individuals who come from a disadvantaged area typically only have a high school diploma which cannot guarantee them high-paying jobs, so most of them work in a place where they receive a low wage. Because areas like this are saturated with people from similar backgrounds it does not leave many open job opportunities for the rest. In fact, there is a 7 out of 10 chance that someone with a high school diploma does not have a full-time job (Gibny, 2012). How does the government always complain about people using the system by choosing not to work when the government itself places multiple obstacles in front of the oppressed?